During the recent Africa Water Week
conference in Cairo, Bethlehem Mengistu, WaterAid’s Regional Advocacy Manager,
East Africa and Nelson Gomonda, WaterAid’s Pan-African Programme Manager, held
a closed ministerial meeting with the Hon. Maria Mutagamba, the Uganda Minister
of Water and Environment to discuss ways of formalising the regional
partnership with WaterAid under the Minister’s leadership.

This regional initiative is geared towards creating
better cooperation and understanding to help address key water and sanitation
issues. It will also be used as an
opportunity to work with governments on an implementation framework for regional
and pan-African priorities, as well as putting into practice the key recommendations
and calls coming out of Africa Water Week.

The main issues discussed in the meeting with
the Minister included:

The formalising working
relationship with the minister to leverage regional and pan African policy
influencing and advocacy; and

The Minister’s ambassadorship
in advocating the implementation of water and sanitation commitments made which
include those at AfricaSan 3, eThekwini and those during the Washington DC High
Level Meeting and any other commitments at regional level.

The meeting also discussed the possibility of
holding a regional follow up meeting, and exploring the opportunity of working
with the other regional institutions and the Pan-African Parliament to advocate
for improved water and sanitation access.

Hon. Maria Mutagamba, an ex-president of
AMCOW, is highly regarded by the heads of states as well as fellow ministers
across Africa. Because of her hard work
in ensuring water and sanitation for all on the continent during the Africa
Water Week she was recognised and accorded the title of “Mama Africa for WASH.”

Friday, 18 May 2012

The
WaterAid video; Water for Growth in Africa, AMCOW at 10 years, was screened at Africa Water Week and turned out
to be one of the major highlights, helping to set the scene for the ministerial
discussions across around the conference.

The
video calls for action to address the sanitation and water crisis in Africa as
a crucial step to poverty eradication and development.

People’s
reaction

After watching the video, Mr Bai Mass Taal, Executive Secretary of AMCOW moderated a high
level panel discussion centring on the video. Below are some of the views from the high
level audience:

Hon. Maria MutagambaUganda’s Minister of Water and
Environment “It was not easy seeing people in the video drinking dirty
water, it sends shivers into my body... At
the end of the video, people were clapping and I kept wondering why they were clapping
when the video clip is clearly showing the situation is so bad?”

Dr. Hesham Kandilthe AMCOW president and
Egypt Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation when asked whether he will
keep his promises his response was that; “this is the time for the
political leadership to walk the talk.” He pledged that under his leadership, AMCOW would
ensure that interventions are targeted, going to areas where a real difference
can be made.

Mr Getache Engida, Deputy Director General of UNESCO also
emphasised the message that political leaders in Africa should walk the talk.

Walter North, Director, USAID Egypt
Mission asked the audience, “Now that you have seen the video, are you
convinced on the need to invest more in water?”

Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, Minister of Research in
Congo Brazzavilleand Former AMCOW
president,noted that there are a number of key
questions to ask if we are to accelerate progress. He asked why Africa is reported to be making such
good economic progress with GDP registering an average of 6% to 10% growth and
yet the continent has so many people without access to safe water and
sanitation. He encouraged his peers to
continue advocating for governments to take urgent actions to address the situation.
He concluded that lack of access to safe
water and sanitation in Africa should be viewed as an emergency.

Oseloka Zikora, Communications, AMCOW
Secretariat said “When
I set out asking Nelson Gomonda and the WaterAid team, if this was possible to
make a video, I was really testing the water considering the time frame. I had
hopes that the film would make a significant impact, but I never anticipated
the impact would resonate so much with the audience. Thank you to WaterAid.”

WaterAid is making a big impact at the 4th
Africa Water Week to keep the focus on the important issues and I hope the 34
Ministers and the other government representatives who have gathered here will go
back to their countries with renewed vigour and determination to make a
positive difference in quenching the thirst for water in Africa.

It remains to be seen how these solutions will be
captured in the technical sessions and how these will translated into concrete
practical action to ensure water for growth in Africa. More on this to follow.

About Africa Water Week:

Governments, regional institutions, development partners, the private sector, civil society and media from Africa collectively meet to discuss and seek solutions to the continent’s water and sanitation challenges.
James Kiyimba, Programme Coordinator Communications – WaterAid in Uganda, will be blogging regularly to provide information on daily Forum events, sessions, and outcomes, as well as updating this site with photos and video clips.

James Kiyimba

About WaterAid

WaterAid is an international charity. Our mission is to overcome poverty by enabling the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education.

This blog features news stories from the main WaterAid site (http://www.wateraid.org) as well as occasional posts from our teams around the world.

In the first week of November, James in Uganda will be updating the blog with news of a visit to the country by WaterAid's UK Chief Executive, Barbara Frost.